Monday 18 July 2011

To Whom It May Concern





I have been summoned to the House of Infection - Ninewells Hospital - for the day tomorrow and as preparations are time consuming, I'm very fortunate to have this (slightly amended) contribution from Old Chap. As he said by way of introduction 'Now, with the passage of time, the request seems rather more urgent'. A statement with which I concur.



I Want To Be Six Again

To Whom it May Concern: I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult, in order to accept the responsibilities of a 6 year old. The tax base is lower. I want to be six again.

I want to go to McDonald's and think it's the best place in the world to eat. I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make waves with rocks. I want to think M&Ms are better than money, because you can eat them.

I want to play kickball during recess and stay up on Christmas Eve waiting to hear Santa and Rudolph on the roof. I long for the days when life was simple. When all you knew were your colours, the addition tables and simple nursery rhymes, but it didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care.

I want to go to school and have play time, play sports on the school playing field and do gym or Scottish dancing in the hall if there's too much snow on the ground. I want to be happy, because I don't know what should make me upset. I want to think the world is fair and everyone in it is honest and good. I want to believe that anything is possible. Sometimes, while I was maturing, I learned too much. I learned of nuclear weapons, prejudice, starving and abused kids, lies, unhappy marriages, illness, pain and mortality. I want to be six again.

I want to think that everyone, including myself, will live forever, because I don't know the concept of death. I want to be oblivious to the complexity of life and be overly excited by the little things again. I want television to be something I watch for fun, not something used for escape from the things I should be doing. I want to live knowing the little things that I find exciting will always make me as happy as when I first learned them. I want to be six again.

I remember not seeing the world as a whole, but rather being aware of only the things that directly concerned me.I want to be naive enough to think that if I'm happy, so is everyone else.I want to walk down the beach and think only of the sand beneath my feet and the possibility of finding that blue piece of sea glass I'm looking for. I want to spend my afternoons climbing trees and riding my bike, letting the grownups worry about time, the dentist and how to find the money to fix the old car. I want to wonder what I'll do when I grow up and what I'll be, who I'll be and not worry about what I'll do if this doesn't work out.

I want that time back. I want to use it now as an escape, so that when my computer crashes, or I have a mountain of paperwork, or two depressed friends, or a fight with my spouse, or bittersweet memories of times gone by, or second thoughts about so many things, I can travel back and build a snowman, without thinking about anything except why snow sticks together and what I can possibly use for the snowman's mouth.

I want to be six again.

Author Unknown


16 comments:

Oldrightie said...

I hope all is well, Subrosa?

Joe Public said...

Hope everything goes OK tomorrow, and you're in-'n-out quick-as-a-flash.

Take care that you're not added to their Superbug statistics.

Have they WiFi? Will you be supplying a running-commentary Posting??

subrosa said...

Nothing that having a 40 year old body wouldn't cure OR. Ageing doesn't suit me. :)

subrosa said...

Joe, with the c.diff I picked up in another one a few years ago, I think I've done my bit about infections.

I'm not taking my iPad as the paperwork supplied says no secure areas so it's a book day.

JRB said...

Wishing you all the best.

If you were only six you might accept what the medics say and do, purely on blind faith alone, knowing no better. Now with your experience and understanding you are able to intelligently discuss what is said and to be done in the mater of your health.

Enjoy your reading - We will all be here waiting for your return.

Sheila said...

Thinking of you tomorrow - hope all goes well.

Despite all the gloom and doom, there are wonderful people in the NHS. My most recent experience was entirely positive when two lovely midwives attended the birth of my daughter's second at her flat in Ayr : a real job done by caring and knowledgeable individuals.

I'd like to be 16 rather than 6 (unless escaping school is on offer) but with the knowledge and understanding I've only recently acquired approaching 50..

hector said...

all the best subrosa.

Anonymous said...

Good luck at the hospital SR. Tea Tree Oil is a natural disinfectant, and some on a handkerchief to rub around the nose and mouth works wonders... Diluted in water it makes a good spray.

McGonagall said...

Time and tide is a bastard with a wicked sense oh humour. My strategy is to laugh in its face.

Anonymous said...

Stay well.

- Aangirfan

subrosa said...

JRB, I didn't get a chance to read more than a page. It was all so professional and slick. I was even sent home with an interm report all typed up and even stating instruments used. Very high tech indeed.

subrosa said...

Ah Sheila, I actually liked school but I seem to be lonely with my view.

Can't help but agree about being young with a mature person's experience. Do you think that's why youngsters get on so well with grandparents?

subrosa said...

Thank you hector. Very kind of you. Back safely and by tomorrow the dope will have worn off (unfortunately) so reality will kick in.

subrosa said...

Ah Tris, I took some with me - you must have telepathy. :)

subrosa said...

It's the only way scunnered. If we succumb then we're lost.

subrosa said...

Thanks Aangirfan. Getting older isn't fun all of the time. :)

Related Posts with Thumbnails